Wyoming Land Foreclosures

People who want to buy Wyoming land probably will have a special interest in Wyoming land foreclosures. Why? Because the perception is that a foreclosure affords a better deal than a normal purchase. That perception sometimes can be correct, but often can be incorrect.

Suppose a lender forecloses on a parcel of land that has a remaining balance due of $30,000, and the current market value is $50,000. If the lender wants a new buyer to simply assume the $30,000 unpaid indebtedness, then this would be a land foreclosure that should be of interest. In this case, the new buyer would inherit $20,000 equity in the land. Therefore, the perception that foreclosed properties offer benefits is correct.

On the other hand, if the lender was seeking to find a new buyer for the full market price of $50,000, then this would be a foreclosure that doesn’t make much sense. If the normal price for the land is $50,000, and the foreclosed price is also $50,000—where is the price advantage for a new buyer? In this case, the perception that foreclosed properties can be advantageous is incorrect.

While few land buyers are aware of it, there is another available source of land that might be even lower than foreclosed properties—and that would be tolocate a rural acreage wholesaler. A rural acreage wholesaler acquires large tracts of land for the lowest possible prices and then resells to ranchers, farmers, hunters, investors and speculators on a wholesale basis. Most land foreclosures involve retail pricing; thus, any discount is still based on the discount from a retail price.

Acreage wholesalers, however, deal in wholesale pricing. Therefore, the wholesale price can often be substantially less than the discounted price of Wyoming land foreclosures.